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DRIVEN: Limited – edition Ford Fiesta ST200

Being a Motoring journalist isn’t all about spending the whole week with fancy cars. It’s all about writing a car review that puts your readers in the driver’s seat.

I always get excited when I am told that the car parked in the Motoring test fleet parking lot is mine for the the week, and the limited-edition Ford Fiesta ST200 made me feel happier.

I recently spent a week with the Ford Fiesta ST200 limited-edition, as with all limited-run cars that reach my hands, there are always only a few, with Ford having only 160 units planned for our market, so hurry up should you decide you need one after reading this.

The numbers first. The ST200 gets a power bump from the standard Fiesta ST’s 134kW to 149kW (200hp) hence the 200 insignia. That amount of power is generated by a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine that sends power to the front wheels via an improved six-speed manual gearbox. It is quick, but not quicker than its greatest rival, the Polo GTI I have tested a while ago. Ford says it can do a 0-100km/h in 6.7 seconds but I tell you what, it did the 0-100km/h in 7.38 seconds when we tested it in Gerotek.

A minute in the hatch, I was so disappointed with the outdated centre console jam-packed with a forest of buttons. It took me more than 5min to connect my cell Bluetooth, anyway, no car is perfect.

The ride isn’t smooth at all its quite a bumpy ride but point it to the highway and it gets comfy like a Fiesta should.

I won’t lie, this Fiesta ST200 is different from the standard STs. You get a unique ‘Storm Grey’ metallic colour and it rides on matt black 17-inch five-spoke alloy wheels that frame red front and rear brake callipers.

You also get rear LED tail lamps.

Jump inside the cabin and Recaro sport seats greet you. The seats have proven to be more than useful when cornering at speeds I am not allowed to mention here.